Rotary valve.



J. FERRER & E. ALONSO.

ROTARY VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.8.1914.

1,15?,68%, Patented Oct. 26, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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ROTARY VALVE. APPLICATION "FILED AUG.8. 1914.

1,15?,68% Patented Oct. 26, 1915.

6 3 SHEETS-SHE III WWW g y/$74125 yg m M A TTOH/VEYS WITNESS S 'nrrnn srarne PATE FIFO JOSE FERRER AND ELIAS ALONSO, OF SAN JUAN, E'OBTO RICO.

ROTARY VALVE.

Application filed August 8, 1914. Serial No. 855,895.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Josr'i FERRER, an American citizen, and ELIAS ALONSO, a citizen of Cuba, and residents of San Juan, in the district of San Juan and Island of Porto Rico, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Valves, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates torsteam engines, and the main object thereof is to provide a rotary substitute for the present reciprocating valve now used in such engines; a further object is to provide a separate valve for each end of the cylinder but revoluble with a shaft common to both; a further object is to provide means for compensating for the wear on either or both of the valves; a further object is to provide in each valve distinct inlet and exhaust passages adapted for alternate communication with the corresponding cylinder ports; and further objects are to provide such valve ,mechanismswhich are simple in construction and installation, positive in operation, and well adapted for the purposes for which they are designed.

Our invention is fully described in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the same reference characters are used to designate the same parts in each of the veiws, and in which Figure 1 is av central, longitudinal, horizontal, section taken through a steam engine provided with a present preferred form of our rotary valve; Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line-22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2,

of fragmentary form; Fig. 1 is a face view of a valve which we employ, removed from the engine; Fig. 5 is an enlarged, central,

longitudinal, section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; and Figs. 7 and 8 are views of a detail of the valve-shaft construction. g

In the drawings forming a part of this application we have shown. a cylinder (1 of a steam engine of the reciprocating type, provided with ports a and a a piston a a rod a? therefor,-a connecting rod 0;, .and a crankshaft a all of the usual or any desired construction, and we provide a steam-chest b at one side of said cylinder. I

The chest 1) consists of a cylindrical memher 6 having removable ends 6 and b, the

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented @ct. 2p, 1915.

tudinally arranged valve-shaft c which is preferably transversely and angularly formed'at its outer end, as shown at 0 Figs. 5, 7 and 8, to fit into a similarly, recessed coupling 0 keyed to a short shaft 0* rotatable in bearings 0 and to which, in turn, is keyed a casing 0 provided with an internal gear 0 and a cover 0 revoluble with the valve-shaft c.

Keyed on the valve-shaft 0 are two oppositelydisposed valves 61 and e, spaced apart in the center of the steam-chest and similarly inclined on adjacent faces for a wedge 7 arranged therebetween, and movable against the inclined planes by means of a spring f and the object of which is to force ,the radius of which equals the radius of the are on which the passage 7) of the end 6 is struck whereby said recess will register with said passage for a corresponding degree of valve revolution, and said valve is also provided with a concentric slot d diametrically opposite the concentric portion of the recess 0Z entirely through the disk 0Z and of the same radius as the passage b referred to, and of an arc exceeding 120 degrees of a circle, whereby said slot will register with said passage for a corresponding degree of valve revolution, said slot communicating with the interior of the steam chest, and it will thus be seen that the recess d and slot d are alternately carried into register with said passage, and thus into communication with the interior ofthe cylinder at, in each valve revolution, to ad'- mit steam to said cylinder when said slot is in communication therewith, and to eX- haust the expanded steam when said recess is in communication therewith.

Q .The valve 6 is in all respects similar to the valve cl, having the disk 6 recess 6 and slot 6, adapted, each, to register with the passage 7) of the end 6, alternately, and thus' adapted to exhaust or to admit steam from and to said cylinder on the opposite side of the piston a from that incommunij cation, with the'valve (Z, and it will be noted that the slots Z and 6 are oppositely arranged whereby one slot and one recess of the, two valvesare in register at one time with the corresponding passage b, or viceversa. i r

Byref'erjence'to Figs. 5 and 6, it will be seenthatthe casing 0 supports one end of a gear-shaft it provided with a bevel pinion 71, at its opposite end enmeshed with a similar pinion its on the crank-shaft a, and

7 whereby said gear-shaft h is rotated,'and

said gear-shaft also carries, within the easingc an integral disk k having stub-shafts k secured therein and'diametrically opposite each other, and serving as supports forfreely ,revoluble spur pinions k which are in mesh aid, sleeve carrying a spur pinion i at its inner end in mesh with the pinions it, a

planetary gear thus resultingfand a handwheel it is provided at the outer end of said sleeve, preferably by means of a ratchet and ,ipawlconnection Witha plate 2' secured to the bearing support '5 as shown at i the "details of this feature not being illustrated as any suitable former equivalent'ma-y be "employed to hold the handwheel against "movement with the gear-shaft h, but said handwheel is manuallyrevoluble in a direction opposite to. that of the said shaft, for

reversing the valve positions from those previously occupied, to reverse the engine.

The operation is very simple; the steam ,"ent'e'rs the inlet port 6 passes thence to the left "end of the cylinderra through slot 6Z passage'b andport a and the piston is fo'rcedvoutw'ardly, actu'a'tlng the crank-shaft a through an arc of 180 degrees, and thereby rotating the gear-shaft h the same degree, i

bvmeans ofthe bevel pinions 7L2 and IE3, the

'- shaft 7t revolves the casing 0, through the medium of the internal gear 0 and the r0- tatable pin ons h in mesh therewith and with the normally stationary pinion 2' it being our intention to provide a pinion relationship insuring a full casing c revolution to a full rotation of the gear-shaft It, thus rotating the shafts 0* and 0 at the same sneed as the shaft h and thus of the crank-shaft a, and, in a full outward piston movement, the valves (Z and e are turned through an arc of 180 degrees, whereby steam now enters the cylinder through the slot 0* and the piston returns to the initial position shown.

In the forward piston movement the air, at first, and expanded steam is forced through the port a passage Z2, and recess a to the corresponding branch of the exhaust port Z), outwardly of the engine, and in the opposite piston movement, the steam is e):- hausted through port a passage 7), recess (Z and port I), and the live steam is therefore admitted to the cylinder at each cylinder end alternately, and the expanded steam exhausted from the opposite ends alternately.

If it is desired to reverse the engine while running, all that is necessary is to revolve the hand-wheel a" in such manner as to bear arelationship with the gear-shaft ll, of 180 degrees, thus carrying the pinions 72 around the pinion i in like degree, and thereby revolving the casing a, shaft 0 shaft 0 and valves (land 6 through the same are, and the admission and exhausting of steam is changed to opposite cylinder ends and the engine is reversed.

Bymeans of the arrangement of the valves as shown we entirely avoid the retardation thereof common to other valves and which is due to the steam pressure; there is no pressure under our valves, as only the dead steam passes thereunder, and a perfectly balanced valve action results, free from the vibrations of reciprocating valves, and

therefore very smooth in action; further, we provide automatic means for compensating for wear of the valves, and which means also insure a steam-tight engagement of the valves with the stationary parts against which they impinge and on which they move.

lVhile we have shown our rotary valve applied to a horizontal engine, we are not limited thereto, as we may apply the same to any type, and we also reserve the right to make changes in the details shown and described, within the scope of the following claim, which will not depart from the spirit ofo-ur invention or sacrifice its advantages.

Having fully describedthe invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In an engine, a cylinder having a port at each end thereof, a piston therein, a steamchest provided with a steam inlet and a steam outlet port, a rotary valve, comprising two similar, oppositely disposed, members having inclined adjacent ends, a wedge arranged between said inclined ends, means for forcing said Wedge inwardly to move said members apart, and means for rotating said members, said valve being adapted to communicate said steam-chest ports With said cylinder ports, alternately.

In testimony that We claim the foregoing as our invention We have signed our names in presence of the subscribing Witnesses.

JOSE FERRER. ELIAS ALONSO. Witnesses EUGENIO F101,, C. SURE PRAELS.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

